Cubs Chronicle One

Once every few weeks (or whenever I don't have anything else to talk about) I will be discussing what has happened recently with the Cubs and will preview upcoming games with what we would like to see happen. I may also do this with the Brewers, you'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, the Chronicle will look something like this:

4/4-4/14

Record as of today: 4-5
Record in division: 2-1
Extra Innings Record: 1-1
Standings:
1. Milwaukee 5-3
2. Houston 4-3
3. Cincinnati 4-4
4. St. Louis 3-4
5. Chicago 4-5
6. Pittsburgh 3-6

Upcoming Series: 4/15-4/17 at Pittsburgh, 4/18-4/19 at Cincinnati, 4/20-4/21 at St. Louis.

The Cubs redeemed themselves with an 8-3 victory in game 2 of a doubleheader with the Padres. Without Aramis Ramirez, Todd Hollandsworth, or Nomar Garciaparra in the lineup, the Cubs scored 8 runs, which was more than enough in Mark Prior's encouraging first start of the season. Derrick Lee led the way and is continuing his non-traditional hot start.

While the team isn't off to the 9-0 start we would all love to see, they aren't doing horribly, like some Cub "fans" think. I don't get why people freak out when a team starts 4-5 and is only 1 1/2 games out of first place. Wood will get his pitching back and will win at least 12 games, Maddux always wins at least 15 even though he gives up a lot of home runs, Prior looked excellent for his first start of the season, and Zambrano is pitching like a Cy Young candidate. The bullpen hasn't been solid, but it is early, nothing a trade can't fix.

Lee is leading the offense, but Garciaparra will regain his preseason form, and Ramirez is solid all around. Neifi Perez and Jerry Hairston Jr. will get more at bats, which they deserve, and right now are excellent options off the bench. The Cubs will have one of the best hitting infields in the Majors this season, don't worry about that.
What we need to see in the next week:

The pitchers all need to work 6 or more innings. I'm not saying they need to go 7-0 over the next week, but stronger and longer outings are needed. This is most important for Wood. He needs to show he still has control over all of his pitches, if only for a few innings, because at this point anything better than yesterday will be acceptable. The bullpen needs to have an ERA less than 2 over the next week. If this happens, we're in the right direction, and if not, it still isn't panic time.

I'm not too worried about any of the hitters. I want to see more of the same over the next week, with the exception of Nomar and Barrett getting on base with a little more consistency. Five runs per game should get them a 5-2 record or better.

After the next week of games, the only division team the Cubs will not have faced is the Astros. This week is a great chance for Chicago to show the rest of the division what they are all about and take early control of the Central.

Prediction for the next week: 4-3.

-Until next time...

Housekeeping

A few quick notes:

Apparently Gaddis doesn't even read our own site. His post yesterday was titled, "How Do I Start A National Movement?" In the column, he goes on to state how he wants to start two national movements, livbetes and the Keg. If he would have read his own site, he would know this was already discussed on Monday. All he added was the Our Turn Next movement, which may be more important than the other two. Come on Matt, our readers want new info, and don't want our site clogged with repeats!

Todd, I'll email you later on how to put up links.

-Until next time...

Hump Day

Well, at least it is Wednesday today, only 2 more days until the weekend, and approximately 48 hours until I make my 2005 debut at The Keg. I will be in attendance when the Crew takes on St. Louis. Hopefully Sheets will be on his game and Chris and I will see something special.

Am I the only one who sees a similarity between Lyle Overbay's swing this season and Jeromy Burnitz's? Lyle is simply swinging with an upper-cut and going for the long ball on every swing. Early last season when he was hitting nothing but doubles, he was using his wrists a lot more and slapping the ball into the opposite field with great regularily. This season, he is all shoulders and hips, I don't get why this happened and why it can't be remedied.

Speaking of players who have been and can be better again, Kerry Wood needs to remember how he was pitching during the end of the 2003 season and in the playoffs. During that time period, Wood struck people out when he needed to, but also used his fastball and slider to get batters to hit a lot of ground balls. He relied on his defense for a number of outs while still striking out many players a game. It seems like last season and this season, he has tried to do nothing more than repeat his 20 strike-out performance of 7, that's right 7 years ago. I realize 2003 was his best sesason as far as strike-outs go, but right now he is just trying to overpower people, instead of outpitching them. He needs to trust his off-speed stuff and throw the right pitches at the right time, not simply throw gas and miss with off speed pitches.

Let me clear up that I don't hate the Red Sox, I am just sick of hearing about it. I almost wrote in my post yesterday that I know I will act the same way when the Cubs finally win, but I simply forgot to add that part at the end. I will be one of the most annoying people around when the Cubs win it all, but until then, Red Sox fans can SHUT UP! I also realize we are supposed to have some sort of brotherhood of heartbreak and misery with Sox fans, but they won, we haven't, I'm sick of hearing about it already. Plus, the brotherhood is dead. It's like we got divorced and they got the house, the cars, and won the lottery. They know our pain, but will never be on the same level with us again.

I don't recall ever saying anything bad about Iowa or anyone from that state before in any of my columns or anything I have ever written or said. But after AndDro keeps mentioning Iowa and how it gets no love, I am now going to write that I am starting to hate everything about the state, everything it offers, and anyone who has ever lived there.

So, if the Badgers win the Big Ten in football next season and the Packers are playing the Seahawks with something on the line, what are we supposed to do? Do we cheer for the Badgers to lose enough games so they don't make a New Year's Day Bowl? I guess we can cheer for them, like always, to go undefeated, so they play in the Rose Bowl (it is the 2006 National Title Game), but if they lose a game, and still win the Big Ten, we may have a decision to make (insert whatever Big Ten team you cheer for in this equation).

I faxed Ron and Pat today about livbetes, the wheels are in motion.

Does anyone realize the NHL playoffs should be in full swing right now?

It's awesome when you show love for your friends' website, but they don't return the favor, and Justin, I am with Gaddis in saying there is no way Mike Williams goes any lower than 10.

-Until next time...

Red Sox, Red Sox, Red Sox...

So apparently it's a big deal when two players from a World Series Championship team show up to collect the rings they earned, even though they play for different teams now. I don't understand this. Why are people making such a huge thing about this? Derrick Lowe and Dave Roberts were both instrumental in the Red Sox playoff run last season, both had days off from their respective teams, and both wanted to be at Fenway to collect their rings. Am I the only one who thinks what they did is a good thing, a nice gesture to say thanks to the fans, and also to collect the hardware they earned? I really don't get it.

After reading about this incident and after all of the people talking about it last night and this morning, I want to know if anyone else is sick of the Red Sox right now. Fortunately, Page 2 has come up with reasons for us to hate the Red Sox. There is also a poll up to see if people are tired of the Red Sox now or not, and you can fill that out here. I would love to hear other thoughts on the Red Sox. Basically right now I can't stand hearing about them. I was happy when they won the title, because I saw something generations of Sox fans never saw, but enough is enough. It's a new season. Are we really going to have to celebrate this championship and pretend it's 2004 for the entire 2005 season? You won, get over it.

Also, Todd from Brew City Beat wants to hear some other suggestions from people about what the Brewers faithful should be known as. The leader in the clubhouse is BrewersNation, but other suggestions have been; the Motley Brew Crue, the Keggers, and Keg Klub, amongst others. Please feel free to chime in with your suggestions. I think maybe the faithful should simply be known as the Brew Crew, and not use that monacre for the team anymore.

FInnly, would anyone be with me in starting; ihatebritneyspears.com if the domain name isn't taken yet?

-Until next time...

Quite a Finish

The Masters ended yesterday in classic fashion. The shot Tiger Woods hit on number 16 was one of the best shots I have ever seen. Congratulations to him and to Chris DiMarco who showed great heart and ability to come back and even force a playoff after losing his big lead earlier in the day.

It was a little tough to choose between the Cubs/Brewers game and the Masters yesterday, but I was able to manage the channels well enough to keep track of each event and not miss any important moments. This shouldn't be a surprise as I am a man and we have an uncanny ability to navigate through different channels with sporting events on them without flaw.

I also want to state that we are going to try and start two movements here at Our Turn Next. We are going to help the Brew City Beat boys and try and get the Brewers announcers and people who talk about the Brewers to start referring to Miller Park as "The Keg". This will just be a movement for Brewers Nation. The other movement is going to be a national movement to try and get the disease known as Diabetes changed to be known from here on out as Livbetes. This is going to be done for everyone who has the disease. If it is called Livbetes, maybe people will have a better outlook on it. Brady Gordon is the mastermind behind this, so if it happens all credit will go to him. I will be emailing the necessary people during broadcasts of Brewers and Cubs games to see if either of these things can come to fruition. I encourage you to either email Darren and Bill or Bob Uecker during Brewer games or Len and Bob or Pat and Ron during Cubs games.

-Until next time...

Watching Golf

I tried to post this on Thursday night before Master's weekend, but for some reason, blogger wouldn't let me. Gaddis wanted to know how he could cheer for his favorite golfer, or show support, because y0u can't just wear a jersey or hang a poster or whatever.

Here's how I watch golf, and since I doubt anyone has ever written a column on how to properly watch golf on television, I will be the sole authority on the subject. I like to be in my basement and at least have one other person watching the event with me. It just makes it seem more like an important event if someone else is there. Having a beer or a few beers while watching definitely makes watching golf a little easier, especially for those people who don't normally watch golf. Any kind of normal snack food is acceptable. The final piece of the puzzle when watching golf is selecting the club you have nearby when golf is on. I like to have my pitching wedge in hand. Some people may elect a bigger club, because it could do more damage if your favorite golfer is doing bad. Some people may also choose to putt during a golf tournament, which I have done, but it takes my attention off what is on the tv. For Gaddis, holding a picture of Phil's wife will also help, or if you're a Tiger fan, a picture of Elin will suffice.

However you are going to watch, make sure you watch this afternoon, something special is going to happen.

-Until next time...